With MPs away on March break and Canadian politics relatively quiet today, we begin tonight in Washington, where single speech has unleashed a colossal dreckstorm in domestic U.S. politics, domestic Israeli politics, U.S.-Israeli bilateral relations and U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations — and has inspired some creative alibis for members of Congress looking to be unavoidably detained tomorrow morning.

In Paris, Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson, meeting with his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, says Canada may impose more sanctions on Russia if it continues to violate the ceasefire with Ukraine. Nicholson blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for flare-ups that have persisted since France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine negotiated the Minsk II agreement last month aimed at ending hostility in eastern Ukraine. Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces are accusing each other of violating the agreement.